‘Knowledge’ businesses drive advanced economies. Today, our most advanced form of production can be found in companies like the so-called FAANGs. But rather than spreading throughout the economy, knowledge-intensive activity is increasingly concentrated in a small number of firms and places. With those at the frontiers pulling further away from the rest, the idea that the benefits of the innovation economy will simply “trickle down” to the rest has now been pretty much debunked. Redistribution of wealth (e.g. through taxation), while important, is not sufficient to address the challenges above.

So can we create an innovation-led economy that benefits everyone?

With renowned political philosopher, Roberto Mangabeira Unger, we set out a new vision which explored possibilities for a more “democratic” innovation-led economy, from reforming property rights to revitalizing civil society. In Imagination Unleashed we call for a total rethink of the way the ‘innovation economy’ operates so we all have a chance to exercise that most human capability: our imagination.

You can read the full set of recommendations in the report.

Alternatively, you can watch a video we’ve made encapsulating the key ideas.

We’ve also compiled a list of resources for further reading, listening and watching as we delve deeper into this important, and radical policy programme.

Listening

• Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd - Listen as Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd speak with Roberto Mangabeira Unger and Nesta’s own Madeleine Gabriel and Isaac Stanley about taking a preemptive approach to reducing inequality, rather than relying on tax and benefits later down the line.
• Future Curious by Nesta - Nesta’s Nigel Campbell speaks with Head of Inclusive Innovation Madeleine Gabriel and researcher Isaac Stanley about making the knowledge economy more inclusive. Included in this episode, Nesta Chief Executive Geoff Mulgan talks to Roberto Mangabeira Unger, co-author of Nesta’s ‘Imagination Unleashed’ report.

Reading

• Read an article from Madeleine Gabriel published by the Brookfield Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship where she gives a presentation on how to build a more inclusive innovation-led economy through transforming production.
• The New Statesman has an article condensing the thesis of Roberto Unger’s new book, The Knowledge Economy.
• Go back to the Nesta archive to read Madeleine Gabriel and Isaac Stanley’s blog, which explored how a knowledge economy can work for all.
• The report itself

Watching

• Be sure to watch the new Nesta film encapsulating the key findings of Imagination Unleashed: Democratising the Knowledge Economy.